WCS Art Project With Local Artist Teaches Youngsters State History
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WCS fourth graders participated in the art project during Back to the Days in the fall of 2018. (Photos provided)
WARSAW — A local artist has been doing her part to ensure that local school kids not only hone their artistic skills but perhaps learn a little history in the process.
Erica Deuel of the Spoonful of Imagination Art Studio recently collaborated with Warsaw Community Schools and the Dekko Foundation to spearhead an art project involving the school corporation’s fourth graders, the result of which is available for viewing at the WCS Administration Office.
“In the fall, (of 2018) we were hired to help do an art project at the Warsaw Community Schools Back to the Days fourth-grade event,” said Deuel in a recent blog. “This was a large one-day community event that would also serve as a kick-off for us to go into each elementary school and do an individual art project with every 4th-grader.”
According to Deuel, the students created the piece by writing down their favorite aspect of the local community on an index card. Those submissions were incorporated onto a wooden cutout of the state of Indiana.
“We believe that kids understanding their history and roots is crucial to having vision for the future,” said Deuel. “People came before us and we have the privilege of calling this place home because of their lives, their work, their sacrifices. People will come after us and stand on our shoulders. How can we take what our ancestors have given to us and continue to make things better for the next generation? For us, history and creativity go hand in hand. To create history you must be creative, a problem solver, someone who thinks outside the box. We love when students get to connect those dots and then apply them creatively.”
Deuel said her organization plans to remain in contact and partnership with the school system.
“We actively partner with Warsaw Community Schools in bringing more opportunities for art and creativity into the classrooms,” she said. “We are so grateful to live in a community that values that and has so many wonderful teachers and administrators that support the arts.”
To view the Indiana-shaped collage, visit WCS’s Central Office at 1 Administration Drive, Warsaw.